1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the cleaning implement art, and more particularly, to an implement for cleaning an obscuring coating off a game card or lottery ticket having a scraper blade on one end and a brush on the other comprised of a rabbit's foot allowing the scraper blade to be used by holding the foot as a handle and the brush to be used by holding the scraper blade as a handle.
2. Background Art
Many game cards and lottery tickets have obscuring coatings over portions of the cards or tickets which may be scraped away to expose numbers, letters, and/or symbols underneath. Fingernails or coins are often used to remove the coatings. The crumbs from the coatings may then be brushed off the cards or tickets by the tips of the fingers. Any of the sticky crumbs that remain on the fingers may then be brushed off by brushing the fingers together or against the clothing.
Sharp instruments such as knives or metal scrapers may also be used to remove the coatings if care is taken to avoid cutting or scraping the underlying printing and paper.
At least one specialized scraper has been developed to remove the coatings on California lottery tickets. The scraper is a flat piece of thin plastic having an outer edge substantially in the shape of the State of California. A scraper is formed on the southern border by beveling the edge. However, no known specialty scraper and brush combinations are available for removing the obscuring coatings.
Separate brushes have been made in a wide variety of materials. For example, animal hair has long been used as bristles in brushes. Small bunches of hair are collected together and plastic is molded around the bunches in conjunction with an integral plastic handle. Another brush using animal hair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 926,303 where a wire secures a large bunch of hair in place. While brushes such as these might be used to remove the crumbs of obscuring coatings from cards and tickets, no known brush has been particularly adapted for this purpose.
The hair on the side of a rabbit's foot may be used as a brush to clean cards and tickets. Many participants in games of chance carry a rabbit's foot as a good luck charm and could use one for this purpose. The standard rabbit's foot available as a good luck charm is usually mounting with the ankle end in a metal cup crimped on the foot slightly away from the ankle end. The knuckles on the ends of the bones are thereby trapped inside the cup securing the rabbit's foot to the cup. A raised slot in the bottom of the cup allows a key chain to be fastened to the cup. This mounting permits the rabbit's foot to be displayed by hanging around the neck or from a belt loop. While the rabbit's foot could be used as a small brush, it has never been particularly adapted for this purpose or any other practical purpose.